Through Time
by Kitsa
Summary: When Ianto is ill, what will Jack do to save him? J/I same world as Touch of Grey but not necessary to read. Rubbish Summary.
1. Chapter 1

Through Time

Through Time

Ianto sat wishing he was anywhere else, that he could focus on what the doctor was trying to tell him but all he could think of was Jack. "…sorry Mr. Jones, I wish it was better news. Is there someone you want us to call?"

"No, it's fine. My partner will be back soon. Work emergency." He brushed the doctor's practiced concern aside, still in shock. He had no idea what he was going to do or how he was going to tell the man he loved. After all they had been through, aliens, and daleks, the loss of Owen and Tosh, the Earth dragged off to the far end of space, even Gwen's pregnancy, to have it end up like this. He thought they would have more time.

Mechanically he shook the other man's hand, noting absently that he had strong hands, just what one needs in a doctor. He nodded, said all the right things as rigid and formal as the Queen's garden party and then he was out just as the black SUV roared to a halt in front of the hospital.

Jack jumped out of the vehicle to greet him. "Sorry about that, got back as fast as I could. Over all ready?"

Ianto looked at his lover, dashing as ever. Even after ten years together Jack still made his heart beat faster just by looking at him. "What was it?" he asked, hoping to deflect the inevitable questions for just a little longer. Jack gave him a quick kiss as they both climbed back into the machine. "Hoix in the basement of a kebab shop off St. Mary's, the owner came down to get something out of the industrial freezer and found him gnawing his way though the his whole supply of prepared shawrma, package and all. Fortunately the owner didn't try to be a hero, just locked the freezer and called it in. That new system Gwen has worked out with Andy worked like a charm."

"I'm glad. How do you know it's a him?" Ianto asked suddenly, the irrelevant thought had struck him while trying to think of anything but what he needed to.

"Um, because I don't know many women with beards named Hassan?" Jack answered with a little smile and a wink. "Mind you, there was this one…"

"The Hoix, Jack, the Hoix. We always refer to them as 'he', so I was wondering…"

"Oh, that. Yeah, they have two genders, just haven't seen a female here, at least not in the last hundred years. There was one, back around 1900, but that's the only one I remember in Cardiff so we usually assume it is male til we see it. And trust me you would know the difference. The species has some series sexual dimorphism and if anything the females are bigger, uglier and meaner. Unfortunately they are also smarter. Trust me, if you ever meet one, go somewhere else and call for back up, fast."

"Uglier?" Ianto said with a shudder.

"Yeah, makes me wonder how they survive. That is one species whose mating rituals _I_ don't even want to think about." As he said that, Jack pulled the car to a halt in the underground parking and brought it to a stop near the door. He could sense that Ianto didn't want to talk, at least not in the car. Now he took his lover's hand and they made their way into through to the underground base. The hub was quiet, the whole team out on different assignments still, the busy day responsible for Jack's sudden departure from the hospital while Ianto was waiting. "Why don't you get a shower and lay down. I know how much you hate sitting at the hospital. I'll get that Hoix settled in to his new accommodations and make you some coffee, maybe order us some food."

"What, he's still in the car?" Ianto started.

"Sedated, I didn't want to be gone any longer than necessary." The care in his eyes only made Ianto feel worse. Nothing about this was going to be easy.

"You secure him, I'll make the coffee and get the menus."

"But…"

"Jack, go on. You have a job to do. Besides, I have your coffee, it tastes like asphalt, Sir." He pressed a kiss to Jack's lips. "Go."

"Be back in a moment," he said turning back the way he came. Ianto watched him sadly until he went through the door and then turned to the coffee machine. Some things at least were the same as ever.

By the time Jack had finished, Ianto had taken the coffee and the menus back to what had become their living space, created out of an old store room almost a decade earlier. While Jack still had his bunker, he mostly used it as a private study, a place to retreat to when he couldn't sleep or needed to think, just as Ianto had his own place down in the archives below. Ianto still had his flat, or rather their flat and they usually split their time between the two depending on their schedule.

Jack stepped into the room and looked around. Over the years it had changed from a dingy, grey store room to something more like a home. On one memorably quiet week while Ianto was at the flat recovering from a couple broken ribs, Jack, with help and encouragement from the rest of the team, not to mention Tom and Rhys, they had painted the grey walls a particularly lovely shade of blue and moved out the last two crates which had been serving as a wash stand and side table respectively, replaced by actual furnature.

Once the paint was on, it had been relatively easy to move in a proper bed, one not made from two old metal bed frames lashed together after one memorably energetic evening that involved them both on the floor between them. Then Jack had brought in a couch, much better and less lumpy than the one at the back of the hub. Soon, a comfortable wing chair that Ianto had found downstairs and had recovered made its way in, and a rug.

The screen in front of the bed came when Gwen and Martha had taken to visiting them to talk, it was always better to give Jack a screen.

Ianto was on the settee with the coffee and the menus. "Do you know what you want? I just can't decide."

"You need to eat," he said, knowing that once again the younger man was trying to avoid the subject, at least for a little while longer, and considering how worried he was, he was inclined to indulge him, for now. "Indian?"

"Sure, you order." Moments later he watched comfortably as Jack chatted and flirted away on the phone in a language he didn't understand. Ianto realized these were the moments he would miss the most, the quiet times. He didn't want to think about it, didn't want it to be true. It had taken time, time for him and Jack to find each other, time to admit their love for each other. Now Ianto was wishing it had not taken so long. There was always a measure of uncertainty with Torchwood, but that would be quick and clean, this was not. He didn't want to deteriorate in front of his lover's eyes. He knew what loss had done to him in the past, and did not want to see it.


	2. Time to Think

It could have been worse, he thought as he held tight to Jack

It could have been worse, he thought as he held tight to Jack. The older man had taken it better than Ianto thought he would, at first. "Don't worry, Ianto. There will be a cure in a few years, maybe ten, I can't remember for sure. At my age school history was a long time ago, but I am certain…"

"Jack, I don't have ten years."

"There are treatments. I will talk to Chris, to Martha, they are bound to know something. Trust me."

"Chris is the one that sent me to Dr. Barnes, and Martha agreed. He is the best. There is nothing we can do."

"You are not giving up, Ianto Jones. I'm not giving up," Jack said, getting off the couch to pace around the room. He could tell how agitated the older man was, but he didn't know what to say to calm him down. Partially it was his fault. When he had first starting feeling well he could have going to Chris immediately. The young medic was brilliant, but Ianto just hadn't quite gotten used to having a female doctor, especially one that looked like she was just out of school. Instead he waited, made excuses to himself until he could no longer deny that something was wrong. After that it was all doctors and tests. Martha, who was off in London on a join Torchwood/UNIT research project had taken the train back for the weekend just to see him. But it was too late now, much too late.

"You can't make the world move any faster, Jack, or make the cancer move any slower."

"I could call the Doctor, he can take you somewhere, after they have a cure."

"You know better than that, and if you don't then the Doctor does. He would never agree and neither would I. Jack, it is alright. Please," he said, reaching out for his lover to bring him back to him. "There is something I want to talk to you about." He took a deep breath and pulled out a folder from where he had put it. "This is going to get very unpleasant, very quickly. I don't want you to have to take care of me. This is the information on the hospital, they have a very good record…"

"I want to take care of you…there is no way…" he reached and pulled Ianto into his arms so that he rested on Jack's chest.

"Please just listen. I have thought about this, really thought about it. They will take good care of me. When it gets too bad I want you to take me to the hospital and retcon me."

"Are you insane?" Jack cried in disbelief. He pulled the other man around to meet his eyes. "Ianto, I want to take care of you. Regardless of what you may think, I love you. You are my world and I am not going to just put you away somewhere for my convenience. If something happens, and I am not willing to give up on you yet, but if it does, you are going to be right here, in my arms. There is no way."

"Jack, I know what I am asking is hard, but I just can't. I don't want you to have to watch me…I can't." That was where he lost it. He had tried to be strong but right here, right now, he couldn't. Ianto broke down and Jack pulled him close in his arms.

"Shhhhh, we will work it out, I'll think of something. Just…give me a week, Ianto. Seven day. If I can't figure out something then I will listen. But please, don't give up yet. I can't lose you too." There it was, the pain and the loss.

After Tosh and Owen they had been lucky. Mickey didn't have Tosh's experience or training but he brought his own brand of genius. He had been with them until six months ago when he had returned to London to take over the operations at Torchwood London. The old director had an unfortunate misunderstanding with a race of 7 foot reptiles with an almost Samurai code of honor and no sense of humor. It was small, nothing like the old days and they answered to Jack but after the Daleks last attempt on the planet, it became less and less possible for Torchwood to hide it all. Mickey had always been a London boy at heart and he was glad to be back in the city, as was his wife and young son, called John after the Doctor.

Gwen had took well to being second in command but had found her place working with her old partner Andy Davidson on a system that allowed Torchwood to liaise with local police. They had worked well with one another during the disaster that was John Hart and between them the constabulary had come to accept them as part of the solution rather than part of the problem. It had meant her in the field less and working crime scenes more, but that was all right. It made it easier when the twins came along on a rainy Cardiff day in the back of the SUV after a flood had left the streets full of water and weevils. Owen Christopher, named after their doctors and Gwyneth Toshiko had a pair of Torchwood godfathers, much to their Grandparents confusion, and the two men had enjoyed spoiling them ever since.

Chris had come to them fresh out of school, a young doctor who had been found during the clean up after the return of the Earth, trying to break in and get a look at what was inside the casing of a Dalek that Jack had shot. She was young, brilliant and curious, with a face like a pixie and the mouth and vocabulary of a Manchester lorry driver. Best of all, she was not the least intimidated by Jack or anyone else. She had been joined by Patrick, an Irish geek of all trades, David, ex-SAS weapons specialist that had somehow come to the from a UNIT recommendation, and Tish Jones had come to take over the public face, run the tourist office and handle all the cover stories, though Ianto still took care of the bodies and made the coffee in addition to dealing with the archives. Even John Hart showed up to help on the odd occasion when things got out of hand and Ianto hadn't shot him yet, though it had been close a couple times. It was a good team and a larger one and the thought of leaving it behind was frightening, but not half as frightening as leaving Jack. "You know I will give you anything you want, seven days, but after that we will have to talk about it."

"If we have to, but for tonight just be here with me." Jack laid back and pulled Ianto up against him, pulling him down to lay against him, listening to the reassuring beat of his heart. He wasn't sure who was reassuring who.

Seven days had seemed like an awfully short time when he agreed to it. He hadn't counted on what it would be like. Jack buried himself in his office, with the phone to his ear and his head down between the computer and his wrist band. The team had been notified at the staff meeting the next morning and suddenly everyone was treating him as if he were made of glass. Tosh even volunteered to make coffee, a suggestion that he turned down with a vehemence that sent her scurrying back to the tourist office like he had set her on fire. Chris was watching him, he knew it, and Gwen kept offering him things to eat, as if he would die of malnutrition any moment.

After six days he couldn't take any more. He hadn't been out of the hub since the hospital. Jack was working all day, his mood and attitude deteriorating as the day went on. The evenings they spent together just the two of them, eating, making love, just trying to forget there was anything in the world but each other. But Ianto could tell that it was taking its toll on his lover. Jack had even gone so far as to call John Hart, hoping that the other former time agent could remember something that he had forgotten. Ianto had seen the man coming in, flirting with everyone but the pterodactyl and that only because she also didn't like the man. Unable to think of anything else, he fled into the depths of the hub, seeking comfort from the only person he knew he could talk to without judgment.

"Maybe I will see you soon, Tosh. Sooner than I had really planned on."

"Your going to catch cold sitting down here," Jack said, quietly. Ianto was sitting on the floor of the morgue.

"How did you find me?" he asked, too tired to move.

"Easy, who else would you go to talk to if it wasn't me."

"Is he gone?" He knew it was unfair, but even though they were long ago over and he had been helpful, he was not planning on forgetting all that he had done to them.

"John? Yes," Jack said distractedly.

"And did he tell you anything?" He knew from the lack of answer that he hadn't. Ianto looked around him, so many drawers. He often wondered how many of them Jack had known, how many he had cared for. Ianto didn't want to be another drawer, another number in Jack's memory. There was the team that had been killed at the Millennium, murdered by the then head of Torchwood 3 after a psychotic episode involving an alien artifact. A few drawers down was Jack's brother, in suspended animation, at least he hoped so. He had never mentioned the incident with John Hart, and he never intended to. If he was lucky, the man had done what he needed to do sometime long after Ianto was dead. "I will be down here with them, soon enough. Will you come down and talk to me, Jack, when I am gone?" Jack's eyes were burning bright. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. Ianto could feel the pain of unshed tears behind his eyes. "I wonder if Tosh came and kept Tommy company. you know, between…" Ianto looked up, hoping he had distracted the older man. Instead what he saw was like something from a cartoon. He could almost see the light bulb go off over the other man's head.

"Tommy…Ianto, you are brilliant," he said, grabbing his lover and lifting him bodily from his spot on the floor and pulling him into his arms. "It won't be easy, it just might be crazy, but it will work. I know it will."

"What will work, Jack?" Ianto asked, reluctant to share Jack's enthusiasm. Sometimes Jack's excitement got him carried away, usually involving a lot of work for him. But this time he didn't have the energy and he was too afraid to hope.


	3. Passing Time

It could have been worse, he thought as he held tight to Jack

"Jack, have you lost your mind?" The conference room felt too small for the people and the emotions whirling around in it. It didn't help that on best days Jack's enthusiasm could fill the room all on its own. The entire team was there, including Gwen's husband Rhys, who, while not an actual member of the team, had been a good friend to them over the years. Only Martha was missing. And Captain John Hart, but he was rarely welcomed. Ianto knew that what they had was long over, but still he neither liked nor trusted the other man, even after this long. He wasn't planning on forgiving the man any time soon.

"It's simple, the cryogenic suspension system has been used safely at Torchwood for over one hundred years. We have kept people frozen for a lot longer than this," Jack said. Gwen and Ianto looked at each other, remembering the years that Jack had slept quietly away, time locked into a drawer downstairs, a drawer that now held the brother who had tried to destroy them all and almost succeeded.

"But Jack, you can't just pop him in a drawer like a loaf of bread and pop him back out again, it's…" Chris was torn, they knew that. She had a deep distrust of the system, though she understood what Jack was trying to do. The rest of the team had been a mixed bag. Patrick was fascinated by the concept, had never seen them use the cryogenics, though he had read the report. There had been no need, the only one sleeping off the centuries at the moment was Jack's brother Grey, and as he was not necessary for the future of the planet and was a dangerous psychotic, he had not been woken for the yearly physical. David sat and said nothing, as he usually did. Jack teased him about being the strong, silent type, but he was good at his job and had a wickedly dry sense of humor.

Gwen held onto Rhys. She would go along with Jack, do whatever was necessary to protect Ianto. The three of them, plus Rhys had gotten much closer in the aftermath of loosing Owen and Tosh, and she would back him up in anything that would save Ianto's life. Tish was with her on that. As an old friend of Jack's she knew what they meant to one another and would help to protect that.

"It's what? We have used it before and may again. This is not actually a discussion you know, I am the boss." Rarely did Jack come down all 'Captain knows best', he hadn't done it much in years not since before he had run off to find his doctor the first time. But this was not normal, especially not for Torchwood, where the abnormal was normal.

"What about his family, how are we going to explain it to them?" she asked.

"We are his family," Jack said with a dangerous finality.

"But…"

"What's yer problem with it, Chris girl. The Captain says it works, Gwen and Ianto have seen it. This may be the only way..." Patrick started in.

"Because..."

"Excuse me, do I have a say?" Ianto's words were quiet but they carried a kind of gentle authority that the younger team members responded to, usually. Instead the two carried on with their argument while Jack interjected loudly. "Shut it, all of you," he shouted finally. The silence in the room was automatic. Everyone turned to the usually quiet suited archivist. "Thank you," he said quietly, now that he had the attention of the room. "May I have the room please?" No one moved, no one said anything. "This decision ultimately is mine, mine and Jack's," he said, eyes locking with his lover at the other end of the room. "Leave us for a few moments, please." Slowly, the team stood and one by one left the room. Gwen stopped for a moment, brushed a hand across his shoulder.

"All right, Mate?" Rhys asked, patting him on the shoulder. Ianto nodded and waited until they had left and closed the door behind them.

"Ianto," Jack said, coming over to rest his hands on his lovers shoulder. "You haven't said what it is that you think?"

"Is this what you want Jack? It would mean being apart for at least ten years, possibly longer." He looked up at the man he loved, the man who had saved him. This was the closest thing he had to a chance and all he could think about was what it would do to Jack. "If you wanted a chance at David, all you had to do was ask." Ianto was trying for humor, but the despair on his face told him that it wasn't working.

"I don't want anyone but you, Ianto," he said, dropping to his knees beside the other man's chair. "If only seeing you one day a year mean that in the end I have you for another ten or twenty, or fifty years, then its worth it to me. You are worth it to me." He pressed a kiss to Ianto's throat, and pressed his head into the fabric of his shirt.

Ianto was taken aback by the words. He knew Jack loved him but he was not one to wear his heart on his sleeve. Jack was more comfortable with flirting and innuendo than feelings, though he had a romantic streak that others never saw. Ten years in a box, woken once a year or six to nine months dying slowly and painfully, the choice was a fairly simple one. "What if, by the time they find a cure, you have moved on?" he asked, voicing the thought that had been lurking unsaid.

Jack pulled back and looked up at him. "That is never going to happen, you know that right?"

"I would never ask you to remain alone while I…"

"I know you aren't asking, and I don't promise that I'll be celibate while you're gone. I'm no monk, though there was this time back in…" he started trying to jolly Ianto out of his dark mood.

"I am well aware of that, I don't expect you to," he said, trying to get all this out before he gave in. "I want you to be happy, don't close yourself off again, please." Jack looked up in those blue eyes and felt the warmth filling him.

"Ianto, I am going to live forever, or as close enough as to make no never mind. Ten years is a blink of the eye. But when I look back in a hundred years or a thousand, ten years with you is not going to be enough, and ten years without you, with the promise of more…I won't say it isn't going to hurt, it will, but you are worth it. We are worth it. I don't have to close myself off, because you won't really be gone, just sleeping for a little while so that we can have longer together." Ianto could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. It wasn't often that Jack waxed eloquent, but for this one moment, it was perfect.

"When do you want to do this?" he asked.

In the end it had taken six months to organize everything necessary to put Ianto's life on hold. They agreed to get rid of his apartment, and all of his things were put into storage, save a few important personal items, and those were moved into their room at the hub along with his suits. A new archivist was found and more or less trained, and Ianto's other tasks split between the rest of the team, though no one wanted to try to learn to make coffee on Ianto's precious coffee machine. In the end it proved to be Nisha, the new archivist who managed to get something almost as good out of the machine without poisoning anyone, or blowing anything up. Ianto pronounced himself satisfied with leaving it in her hands. Jack had been ready to get a new machine.

They waited for Martha to return too. As much as Jack trusted Chris, the young doctor's disapproval and her discomfort with the tech made him insist that Martha be primary. With everything set in motion, in the end it was Jack himself who wanted to delay. He argued with Ianto that they should wait until he was worse, take a little more time, but Ianto would have none of it. "I want to be able to feel like getting out of the box on my one day a year," he told Jack one night as they lay holding each other in their bed. "And I expect you will too." Ianto slide one hand slowly down Jack's naked chest to make his point. Jack conceded, on the condition that he get a demonstration of exactly how Ianto planned to spend his one day of the year. They had both been late to work the next morning, a real feat considering they didn't actually have to go more than a couple hundred yards.

"Just one more week," Jack whispered much later as Ianto slept in a boneless heap on top of him. "Give me one more week."

Jack through him a party, not exactly a farewell but he wanted everyone to have a chance to see him. He bought out Bombay Palace, a restaurant with special meaning to both of them, and had the entire team along with several special friends down. Mickey and Trisha came down from London with little John, 5 years old and already more like his name sake than anyone could have predicted. Martha came with Tom, her wonderful pediatrician husband who tended to double as the teams expert in all things child, including young aliens and the children of Torchwood members. Officer Andy Davidson had come as well, along with Kathy Swanson, who had surprised them all after the bombings by being one of the first police officers outside Andy to make her officers work with Torchwood. Andy had been around a lot recently, and Jack and Ianto suspected it had more to do with their young medic than any desire for Torchwood company. Rounding out the party was Rhys with the twins, 4 years old and twice as energetic. They wanted to spend as much time with their godfather as they could.

As Ianto looked out over the group gathered to spend time with him, he found himself tearing up. This was his family, a family created out of nothing. They were a group of desperate people with little in common until they had found Torchwood and a home. "You all right, love," Gwen asked, coming up quietly beside him. "Not too tired?"

"No, just taking a moment. You will keep an eye on him for me, won't you?" he asked looking down at her. "I worry."

"Don't worry, we will make sure he is taken care of. I think Rhys is planning to get him over for dinner, maybe spend some more time with the twins. They will tire him out. So what are you doing after the party?" She couldn't resist a little curiosity at the midday party and the day off they had been given.

"Oh, the usual, maybe a little weevil hunting, pizza, Jack." Gwen gave him a shocked smile, remembering when Jack had once told her something similar. Even after all these years, sometimes he managed to still surprise her. "Seriously, Jack has made plans. He won't tell me what they are, but he promised it would be memorable."

"Was that meant as a surprise or a threat?" she said, but she laughed. "Just don't get arrested, can't have us picking you up from the station for getting caught shagging in Bute Town Park."

"I promise, Gwen, no shagging in Bute town park, not enough privacy." Leaving it there, the two were called back to the table where Little Owen and his sister were determined to sing a song to Uncle Ianto. Yes, it was a bit mad and a bit dysfunctional, but it was a family.


	4. From Time to TimePt1

It could have been worse, he thought as he held tight to Jack

It always started the same, the smell of disinfectant, the beep of machines, the sound of voices, first indistinct but gradually clearing. He tried not to struggle as he slowly returned to consciousness, but he hadn't succeeded well.

"Life signs are stabilizing, he should be…Jack watch out!"

"Hell of a right hook, that's going to sting for a bit. Ok, Ianto, come back to me. Come on, open those beautiful blue eyes." Ianto tried to sort things out as his thoughts cleared. He opened his eyes slowly. At first there was only light, but he stopped struggling as the figure holding his hands came into focus. Jack was holding both his hands, his blue eyes sparkling with emotions. "Welcome back," he said as he leaned in for a kiss.

"Oi, think you could leave off molesting my patient until I have gotten him sorted?" Martha said when it didn't look like they were going to stop any time soon. "You know how this goes, the sooner I finish, the sooner you can go and…dabble." Jack pulled back reluctantly, helping him sit up on the table.

He leaned into the young man and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "I think the doctor can take it from here, but next time you wake up and punch me, I am going to put you back in there in those fur lined cuffs, and won't that make for an interesting explanation when we wake you up?" he whispered before stepping back and retreating to the other side of the rail, though he would never leave the room.

Four days, four years, they had worked out a schedule, they had to. The first two years had been a nightmare, with everyone wanting a little bit of his time and Jack wanting nothing more than to take him off to their room and lock the door. Unable to cope with it all, Ianto had sorted a schedule. After his morning physical, it would be off to breakfast with the entire team, friends and family. It was always a noisy affair, with the children, old friends, and new. While a dinner probably would have been more convenient, dinner was saved for Jack and Jack alone.

After breakfast they returned to the Hub and Ianto would spend a little time sorting through any questions the new…well, not so new archivist had. In spite of four years at Torchwood, there were always questions that only a decade spent sorting the disaster it had been could answer. Jack would spend his time impatiently sorting out the work load before dragging him off.

Four days, five days, years, did it matter? "Have you found someone, Jack," he asked, as he always did.

"Ianto, I don't…"

"Jack, I don't want you to be alone," Ianto said. As afraid as he was that this strange once a year relationship would end, and that he would be alone, still he worried about his lover.

"I'm not alone, I have you. For the rest, I get what I need," he said with a shrug, brushing off the rest as unimportant. "Rather than worrying about who is taking care of me when you are gone, why don't you start worrying about how we are going to spend the rest of the night." As Jack rolled over on top of him, everything else stopped being important.

Six days, six years, another breakfast and Ianto was sitting back, letting the celebration roll over him. Tish had announced her engagement to a young man who worked for the redevelopment council. So many things he missed, so many lives rearranged.

"It will be a morning wedding, next year, Ianto. You didn't think I would get married without you?" He leaned back and tried to keep the tears back. Jack had gone out for a moment to take a call from UNIT and he was trying not to think too much about all that he was missing when Gwen came and set down next to him.

"How are you doing really, sweetheart?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he said, smiling at her. "I suppose I just feel like I am missing so much. And there's Jack."

"Yes, well…" He could tell by her look that there was something wrong. Ianto turned to her and gave her a look. Gwen was a wonderful person, but she had never been good at keeping things secret.

"Gwen…"

"He has been a bit dark recently," she said quietly. "Plus there was an incident with that woman…"

"Gwen, I didn't expect Jack to live like a monk while I was gone. In fact, I worry that he will isolate himself even further."

"Didn't think you did, just…" She turned away from him for just a moment. Gwen had never particularly understood the relationship between the understated archives with his dry, sarky wit, and Jack who was so very outgoing, so open. But what she did know was they made each other happy, happier than she had ever seen either of them. "Jack doesn't want anyone else, accept maybe for...well. He goes out with us sometimes, I think he goes out with Pat and David, all single blokes on a pull sort of thing. But none of them mean anything to him, and I think he gets tired of it. He hasn't had the best of luck though. There was a bloke, wanted more than Jack had to give, picked him up at the pub, you know the one, round the corner where we used to go. He started following Jack and he had to retcon him. There was another woman who slapped him, he said he told her that he had a boyfriend just so she didn't get the wrong idea. Put him off a bit I think."

"It would," he said, not sure whether he should laugh or cry. "I don't know what to do, I am not sure how much longer we can keep this up. Martha has been keeping up with all the latest developments but she thinking it will be at least three more years, maybe four. But we have come this far…I just don't know."

"I don't either, Ianto. I don't think there is an answer. But I will keep an eye on him."

"Thank you, Gwen," he said, as Jack walked back into the restaurant and smiled at him. When Jack smiled, he could almost think that everything was going to be all right.

Back at the hub it was business as usual, but he could tell that Jack was restless. As soon as he had answered Nishas last question and sent the woman back to the archives, he was up, grabbing Ianto's jacket. "Let's go out for a walk around the bay, you can see how things have changed." Ianto stood and grabbed Jack's coat from where the older man had thrown it over his arm and helped him into it. Some things he was not willing to let go of.

The day was breezy but clear, especially for autumn in Cardiff and the view of the bay was beautiful as always. Along the edge he could see several modern buildings still in the construction phase. "What do you think?"

"About what?" he said, pulling himself back from brooding to sorting out what was going on in his lovers mind.

"I thought the penthouse, the view should be spectacular and the windows go almost all the way around. I have seen the plans." Jack's voice was unsure, awkward in a way he had not heard since the first time he had asked him on a date after his time with the doctor.

"For what?"

"Your flat is gone, and I thought that, when this is all over, we might want to get out of the Hub for a bit. They are going up for sale next year, Tish's fiancée is going to let me know when they open up. You know how much a like high places. Close to work too. "

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" Ianto asked, startled.

"Do you want to?" He asked, reaching out for his hand.

"I…tell you the truth I hadn't thought that far. Are you sure that you want…"

"Ianto, you don't have to decide anything now," Jack said. He could see the hurt in his lover's face, knew he felt he was being rejected.

"Jack," he said reaching out to caress the other man's jaw. "I intend to stay with you as long as I can, whether than means five days or 50 years. Would I be putting myself through this leapfrogging through time if I didn't know you would be waiting at the end? If you want me to live with you, then the answer is yes, whether it is in a penthouse, or your old bunker back at the hub."

Before he could move or speak, Jack had wrapped him up in his arms and was kissing him passionately, heedless of the people around them. For the first time since he had woken up that day, Ianto could believe in the future, a future with Jack in it. After what seemed like a minute, or an hour depending on whether you asked his heart or his lungs, he pulled away, reluctant to let go but desperate for oxygen. He pulled his jacket to straighten it and tried to look as dignified as he could with kiss bruised lips and Jack staring at him like he wanted to have him right there regardless of the daylight or the public venue.

"Now, about that penthouse," Jack whispered.

"You're right the view would be spectacular, but it isn't necessary. It must cost the earth."

"That isn't important. Are you interested?"

"I am sure it will be beautiful, when it has walls, and windows. But it isn't necessary. I don't need…"

"Ianto," Jack said, his voice thick with emotion. "I need this, I need something to help me keep faith. I'm trying, but some days it is really hard to believe in the future when I want you with me now." Looking into his eyes, Ianto could see the pain that Jack had tried so hard to hide. Reaching out, he took his lover's hand.

"Then penthouse it is, but for now, let's go back home and let me remind you."


	5. From Time to TimePart 2

Seven years, seven days, coming back to consciousness with strong hands on his wrists and that familiar scent, Jack! Trying to resist the primitive urge to struggle. "Come on, Ianto."

Martha was standing next to the table or as close to next to as was possible for a woman as obviously pregnant as she was. Jack was beside him, whispering in his ear. "Welcome back, I missed you…and you missed me this time so no cuffs." The look on his face was gentle and teasing. He groaned, thinking how much he missed that. Even though it only felt like yesterday, in his mind he knew it had been a year, 365 days unless it was a leap year but he couldn't remember.

"Get away, I need to get him sorted so we can get ready. Unless you want to explain to my mother why we're late?" she asked sharply. Jack released the younger man and held up his hands in mock surrender and Martha smiled. "Jack, you really should get cleaned up. I'll have him ready quick as I can." For the first time, Ianto took a good look at his lover. The shirt he was wearing was torn and there were blood stains from the collar down across the front.

"Jack…"

"It's nothing," he said dismissively. "There was a storm last night, heavy flooding, so many weevils, so little space."

Ianto felt a stab of guilt. If only he had been there, watching Jack's back as he always had then there would be no ruined shirt, no suspicion that his lover had died again. "You needed back up."

"As soon as you are up and well, you can watch my back anytime you like," he said with a suggestive wink as Martha practically threw him from the room.

"You look good," he said, trying to make conversation as Martha lined up what he knew and loathed, the battery of blood sample tubes and injections that she prepared every time he woke, every day, every year.

"I look like I have a beach ball stuck up my knickers," she said, but he could tell how happy she was.

"Football maybe," he responded as he slipped out of his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeve. "Remember Gwen? That was a beach ball."

"Possibly, but it is only for another two months. Tom is thrilled."

"Good," he said trying not to watch as she quickly and efficiently drew blood. "Is there anything else that has happened that I ought to know about?"

"Well," she said slowly, looking up at the opening to the autopsy suit.

"It will take Jack about ten minutes more to take his shower, he likes to make sure the blood is out of his hair," he said matter of factly, looking at the clock on the wall.

"We lost David, I am sure Jack will tell you about it later, or maybe not. I don't know."

"Not another one, we were doing so well," he said. He was genuinely sad that the quiet weapons expert was gone, he had been a good man and a complete part of the team for all that he rarely said anything. It had been years since they had lost anyone, not since Owen and Tosh.

"I don't know if it makes it better or worse but it wasn't Torchwood."

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"There was a group of punks attacking some woman, five or six of them. He waded in, got her free, but one of the stabbed him for his trouble. He didn't have his comm on, by the time he got to his mobile and called 999 it was over."

"He always said that the most dangerous situation involved untrained opponents because they were the most unpredictable. It reminds me of the time Tosh saved a young boy and his mother…" he trailed off trying to sort out his feelings. He hadn't felt he knew the man all that well but he had liked him, respected him. "At least Jack can't blame himself for this one."

"No, that has been a saving grace. It hit him hard, I won't try to lie to you. He was a mess for a while, but…"

"Hey, are you two talking about me again?" Jack asked, coming through the door as the two went silent.

Ten minutes on the nose, Ianto thought looking at the clock. "Martha was just catching me up on the news while she pokes me full of holes. Is that for me?" He nodded at the suit bag that Jack was carrying over his arm.

"That is it," he said stepping all the way into the room. Ianto looked at his lover gasped in amazement. The older man was dressed to the nines in a charcoal grey morning suit, the jacket held over his arm, hair slicked down from his shower. He looked breathtaking. "I took the measurements from your best suit, the always makes me…"

"Thank you, Jack," he said, trying not to blush.

"I don't need to know anymore," Martha said as she tossed away the last syringe. "You are done, so you had best get dressed. If you look half as good in it as he does, then we are going to need to keep you in separate rooms. In fact, maybe I had better take Jack with me while you get ready, just to make sure you actually make it into yours."

"He is safe, mostly because I want to see him in it almost as much as I want to see it crumpled on our floor later," Jack said with a smile. "Besides, I would never do anything to incur the wrath of the Jones women."

The wedding was beautiful, Francine telling them how wonderful they looked and Tish the beautiful bride as Clive walked her down the aisle. He and Jack did their duty as ushers, and then found themselves at a corner table with the rest of the team watching as first food then drink and dancing followed. After a dance with the bride, Martha, another bridesmaid, and Francine's sister's husband's niece, Ianto pleaded tiredness and retreated to the table to settle bonelessly back into his seat and watch.

"All right then love?" Gwen asked as she handed him a fresh glass of champagne.

"Fine, I'm just danced off my feet."

"You and Jack both look amazing. It is not surprising you can't seem to get off the dance floor."

"No, but I think I will rescue him soon and let him take me home. As much as I love 'cousin Tish' and the rest of the family," he said smiling a little when he thought about all the jokes that had gone around with first Martha and then Tish had come to work with them. Finally they had taken to introducing each other as cousin just for the fun of it.

"You don't want to waste any more time, I understand. He misses you, but he's been doing better, Ianto. Especially now that I gather congratulations are in order."

"What?" he asked, startled. Certainly Jack hadn't said anything to him.

"He bought that flat, the penthouse, said you had agreed to move in with him. You have no idea how happy it made him. I have seen him, you know, up there. Sometimes when he is a little down, I see him look up at what they are doing and it calms him. Plus it has been a busy year."

"Martha told me about David, and of course I met Jake," he said, nodding over to the blond youngster chatting up one of Tish's friends. Something about the young man reminded him of Owen, just a bit, though his accent was posh, there was a brashness about him that was reminiscent of the cockney doctor.

"Yes, it was hard, but not as hard as it would have been….Well, you know. The Doctor was here for a couple weeks, helped us stop with an invasion, or we helped him I am not completely sure…he is very distracting." Gwen could see Ianto tighten just a little, and she knew that he was not one hundred percent comfortable with the Doctor still, especially while he wasn't around. "Ianto, he asked Jack to come with him, offered to wake you up and take you somewhere they could help you, said he would do it himself but he didn't keep the right equipment, since Time lords couldn't get the disease. Jack told him you refused."

"I did," he told her. "I didn't want to do anything to damage the future. It just wouldn't be right. Besides, Martha says it won't be much longer. We will be ok." He wished he believed it himself, but a part of him was warmed by the fact that Jack hadn't run off with the Doctor, hadn't taken the easy way out. He knew that it wasn't necessary to wake him up every year, it was an out dated Torchwood protocol from before they understood how the alien cryogenics worked, and something they did for Tommy because they didn't want there to be a difficulty when the time came. Certainly they had never woken Grey. But Jack could have gotten into the Doctor's machine and come back when they could heal him, without living the time in between. But he didn't, he stayed on the slow path and it made Ianto glow with happiness.

He smiled at Gwen, letting her know that everything was fine and turned to see Jack heading back to them. "Hey kids, what are you all doing hiding in the corner?"

"Resting," Ianto told him. "I am conserving my energy for later." The smile on his face made it clear where his priorities were.

"Good because the way you look in that suit, you are going…" Jack broke off as a man approached them. Ianto vaguely remember being introduced to him, Caleb someone, he couldn't quite remember his surname, who worked with Tish's new husband. The man had dark hair and an accent that Ianto places somewhere a lot closer to London than here. The suit he was wearing was impeccable, and he wore it well as he greeted them all. He was a good enough looking but something about him didn't set well with Ianto. "Hello," Jack greeted him, friendly as always.

"I was just wondering if you would like to dance?" he asked offering Jack his hand. "As long as your friends don't mind?" he said looking at Ianto and Gwen. Ianto shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. Jack shrugged, and stood, taking the other man's hand and letting him lead him to the floor.

"You don't mind?" Gwen asked. "Thought you were going to try to get him out of here?" The look on her face confirmed it, she didn't care for him either.

"It's only one dance." Three songs later, Ianto was ready to reevaluate. When a slow song started, he watched as the man pressed himself against Jack like a cheap suit. While Jack didn't pull away, Ianto watched him say something to the man and nod toward the table. He didn't release his grip though, merely smiled a predatory smile in Ianto's direction.

Ianto had enough. Rising from his chair, he straightened his jacket and strided purposefully toward the dance floor. "Excuse me, may I cut in?" he asked politely, a smile on his face that only those who knew him knew to be cautious of.

"I promise I will return him soon," the man said, but Ianto dropped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, almost friendly.

"That was not a request," he said. Jack had already let go of the other man and was reaching for Ianto while the other man stood looking thunderstruck in the middle of the floor.

"Sorry about that, Ianto. I don't know what that was all about."

"That was about him wanting to take home the best looking man in the room. But that isn't going to happen," Ianto said, leaning even closer to the other man. He didn't know what had gotten into him but he was feeling aggressive and a bit predatory. Actually if he hadn't though it would ruin Tish's big day he might have actually took a swing at him.

"Oh?"

"No, we are going to finish this dance, and then we are going back to the hub."

"Tell me more," Jack said, his voice heavy with desire.

"I am going to take you home and get you out of that suit very slowly," he whispered hot against Jack's ear.

"Sounds like an excellent beginning. You know Caleb is watching us, don't you?" Ianto turned Jack so he was looking at the man. "Care to continue?" There was a challenge in his voice, and Ianto was determined to rise to it.

"Let him watch. Now where was I? Oh yes, getting you out of that suit, one button at a time, jacket, waist coat, shirt…"

"Ianto…" Jack whispered sharply.

"You want me to hurry up? You will wear so many layers, didn't you say that to me once?" Jack said nothing, just pulled him tighter to him.

"Have I ever told you how much I love it when you are feeling aggressive?"

"I will endeavor to remember that, Sir," he purred. "So where was I?"

"Tormenting me in public, which you might want to think about, we still have to get out of here. Unless…"

"No, I think I will make you wait," he said pressing even closer if that was possible. "Because once I have finished teasing you," he said pausing so that he was sure he had Jack's complete attention, blue eyes burning into his. "Then I am going to shag you 'til you can't stand straight." He could hear his lover's breathing change as he nipped hard at his ear. Jack's indrawn breath was all he needed to know he had him exactly where he wanted him. Smiling, he swung them around again, making sure that Caleb could see Jack's face. "Tomorrow, no one is going to have any doubt as to exactly how you and I spent the rest of the day."

"Time to go."


	6. From Time to TimePart 3

It could have been worse, he thought as he held tight to Jack

Eight years, eight days, Ianto woke. Something was different, he knew immediately. He didn't hear Jack, didn't smell the scent of him. Opening his eyes in panic, he saw only Martha and Chris. "Jack?" The first word out of his dry mouth.

"It's all right, Ianto," Chris said, taking his hand. "Jack will be here in a moment. There was a call after we had pulled you out and we couldn't stop the process." He breathed a sigh of relief. "He should be back by time we are finished with you," she said, turning to Martha.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. Usually Martha took care of him. Chris had never been keen on the cryogenics.

"I'm going off for a bit," Martha said. "I've been seconded to UNIT. They are sending me to Geneva for a while, working with the medical team. There is a new virus and they think it may be alien in nature. I have the most experience of anyone still active, though they are bringing some other bloke out of retirement, a Harry Sullivan. He used to travel with the Doctor too, or so Jack said, I haven't met him yet."

"Is it bad?" he asked, concerned for his friend. "What about Tom and the baby? How is the baby, what is the baby?" he said, realizing he hadn't even had a chance to ask.

"No, not so far, it is limited to the area near a crash site about three months ago, we think that someone got too close before the site was locked down. Tom is going as well, to work on the pediatric end of things, and I will be glad to bore you with baby pictures as soon as we get finished with this. Her name is Donna Rose, and I think she is the most beautiful baby in the world but I might just be a little prejudiced. Now, can we get this over with? Jack will be in a right state if we take too long."

"Did I hear someone take my name in vain?"

"What do you think?" Jack asked as they stood in the empty lounge of their new flat. The view was everything he had said and more. The entire place was surrounded by windows, and there was a terrace on the side facing into the bay.

"Its beautiful," he said honestly. "Very open, very airy, but a bit empty."

"I didn't want to start without you," he said. There was sadness there, but Jack hid it away quickly as he always did. "This way we can start together. I'll get the rest of the stuff, a romantic supper is such hard work."

"But worth it," he said as he laid the blanket out on the floor of the empty living room and started to open the hamper they had brought up. There was a flash in Jack's eyes, and then he left Ianto alone with his thoughts.

"How is he doing?" he asked Gwen at breakfast when he had a few moments.

"All the better for having you back, certainly. Though that Caleb bloke came round the tourist center asking Tish after you."

"Oh?" he asked trying to push the green eyed monster back down into his box. There was nothing he could do, he couldn't expect Jack to live like a monk while he wasn't around, not someone as tactile, as sexual as Jack.

"She sent him off right quick, told him in no uncertain terms that Jack was taken and pursuing him would probably buy him a lorry load of trouble he couldn't begin to imagine. Apparently he had been harassing her Robert for information before he told him to leave off. I gather they are not that close and Robert only had him to the wedding because he couldn't leave him off, comes on a bit strong."

"That's all right then," Ianto said with a smile. He knew he shouldn't care who shared Jack's bed when he wasn't around but that was one man he didn't want anyone near his lover. "So tell me the rest."

"It's been a hard year," Gwen said with a sigh. "For a while, after the last time he was so happy. Then there was that business with some Raxi…Raxofor…those aliens, the big green blobby ones that pretend to be human, I never could get it right. Anyway, they tried to take over that RAF base down the coast. Someone died, someone Jack knew a long time ago and his mood was so black, and I think he stopped sleeping again. But then they finished your flat, and he was over the moon." She tried to keep it light but Ianto could see she was concerned.

"Thank you, you have been a good friend to both of us," he said. "Martha says they are getting close. I just wish…God I want my life back. I want to work in my archives, not tell someone else how to do it. I miss weevil hunting, and Myfanwy begging chocolate. I am missing the twins growing up and Martha's baby…so many things." He could feel the tears pricking in his eyes but he couldn't, wouldn't break down, not now.

"It's ok, love," Gwen said patting his arm reassuringly. "Won't be much longer, and I will keep an eye on him. Have you met Thomas? He replaced David," she said, pointing to the blonde man with the military hair cut who had just joined them.

Ianto pushed the thoughts away to focus on now, this night that they had together. Jack had filled it with his favorite foods, things easy to eat and requiring no elaborate preparations. In the bottom he found candles and started setting them around, as best he could. There were no window sills, all of the windows were floor to ceiling and the sun was still up but he had a feeling that Jack's plans involved them being there for quite a while. When he came in with an arm load of pillows and a bucket with Champagne, he knew he was right. "I thought we needed a little celebration."

Later, laying on the floor, watching the sun set, candles creating little islands of light around the room, the two men snuggled together in a kind of peace. Ianto leaned back on the pillows, champagne glass in hand and studied his lover. "Jack is everything all right?"

"Fine, why wouldn't it be? I am here with you in our beautiful home, or what will be with a beautiful man. The man I love, in fact, who I have every intention of spending the evening making love to, right here on this floor," he said, leaning over to nibble along the young man's jaw, trying to distract him from everything. He was tempted, oh so tempted just to let it all go. But he couldn't, as much as he wanted to.

"Jack, I worry, Gwen said…"

"Gwen worries too much, just like you. We will be fine, just have to keep holding on. Tonight I want to be with you." With nothing else he could say and not wanting to ruin the mood he relaxed and let Jack think that everything could be made better with a kiss.

Nine years, nine days, it didn't feel like it had been almost a decade, it didn't feel like just more than a week either though. Ianto knew something was wrong from the moment he woke up. There was something in Jack's eyes, almost desperation. Chris had handled waking him up and doing the tests but had said very little to him, avoided meeting his eye. Everyone seemed on edge for some reason, and just as he was finishing there was a call out. Jack gave him a quick kiss, but would not allow him to come with, saying that he only had the one day, and didn't want him injured. The wink he got was almost like the Jack he knew, almost.

Gwen came in just after they had all left. She didn't do as much fieldwork as she once had anyway. But when she saw him, he knew that this was deliberate, that she needed to talk. Ianto went into the kitchen and made them both a coffee, laughing at how childishly happy she was to have him making it for her again.

"Oh, I have missed this," she said as the two of them settled down on the couch so they could see when they came back.

"What's wrong Gwen?" he asked as took an experimental sip of his own. Nope, he hadn't lost it, he decided as he waited for her to speak.

"It's Jack." Ianto gave her a look that anyone could have read from a kilometer away. "You asked me to look after him, and I have tried. Rhys and I have him to dinner, and he spends time with the twins, though they miss you. But this last time…" she broke off trying to find the right words. "At first he through himself into work, he started this project to clear out some of the storage rooms, sort what was in there. I didn't know this place was so full of old rubbish. Besides that he started having your place painted, floors put down and that sort of thing, I suppose you talked about it last time." She looked at him for confirmation and he nodded absently, still not sure what was concerning her. "I tried to convince him to start moving things, but he refuses to move a single sock into the place until you move together. Then about six months ago he seemed to lose interest in everything. He stopped spending time with the team unless there was a mission, started hiding in his office again. I came in late one night to find him drinking scotch in his office, his shirt all bloody. He said he had trouble with a weevil. But he has been getting in a lot more scraps, not paying attention to whether he dies or not. He's not putting the team in danger, far from it, but it is spooking everyone a bit. Then about a week ago, Thomas caught him sleeping in the morgue one night, next to where…well, you get my point. His mood has been so dark, I don't know what to do," she finished with a sigh.

"I'll talk to him," he said. "It all seemed so easy when he came up with his plan, a way of us having a longer life together. That is all I wanted, all we both wanted. Now I am not sure I can keep doing this to him. I am starting to wonder if I am doing the right thing."

"Ianto, don't even say that. Of course you are. I am probably just overreacting, you know." They both knew she was lying but neither of them had an answer either. All they could do was stay the course. They sat in silence as they finished their coffee and waited for the rest of the team to return.

It wasn't long before they returned. Jack was the first through the door, grabbing up Ianto from the couch and pulling him hard against him in a devouring kiss. There was something hungry and almost desperate in the way he pulled him hard against him, as if he couldn't stand to be separate from him for a single moment longer, and all Ianto could do, all he wanted to do was hold on for dear life.

"Oi, get a room you two," the loud Irish voice booming across the hub broke them apart, almost. At least Jack released him from the kiss if not from his grasp long enough to give him one of his trademark grins.

"We have a room, and with any luck, I will be dragging this gorgeous Welshman off with me to it soon enough. You, on the other hand, have a report that you should be working on, not wasting time ogling us."

"You are the one putting on the public display of affection," he said as he settled down at his desk piled high with bits and pieces of computers and alien machines, papers, and old sweeties wrappers.

"It's not public, I live here. However I will fail to further offend your delicate sensibilities by getting us out of here. I'll keep my com on, try not to need me," he said as he always did, releasing Ianto only to grab his hand and drag him out the door.


	7. From Time to TimePart 4

It could have been worse, he thought as he held tight to Jack

Ianto stood in the dark of the flat, of their new home, he corrected himself, though it didn't look much like a home. Yes, the flooring was laid, mostly wood and tile, and the paint was no longer that particularly dull realty magnolia but the only furniture was a patio table and chairs on the terrace that Ianto had mentioned liking once in a home center advert, and a beautiful oriental rug Jack had pulled out of storage somewhere. He said he had brought it back from India when he was over there, and it looked beautiful in the empty lounge.

Jack had popped out to get them a bottle of wine to go with the dinner that was even now keeping in the warmer, and Ianto was taking the time alone to sort his thoughts out. Gwen was right, Jack had seemed a little darker, a little more intense than usual. The moment he had the chance he had dragged him back to their room at the hub for a little "private time". Their lovemaking had been dark, hungry and almost painfully needy. Not that he wasn't used to Jack's intensity by now, but it was more than that, as if he was trying to burn every moment into his very skin.

"Penny for them," Jack said as he his arm came around him, resting his head on the younger man's shoulder.

"Not worth it," he said. "Just thinking."

"About me, I hope." Jack's warm mouth pressed against the side of this throat.

"Always, how can I help it? For you it is one day a year, but for me it's every day, and every day is filled with you."

"Is that a problem," he asked, carefully releasing the younger man and pulling back just a little.

"Don't be stupid, Jack," he said, turning into his lover's arms and pulling him close. "It's not me I am worried about. You are the one that has to live it day to day." Ianto pressed a kiss against the edge of Jack's jaw, enjoying the familiar scent, the slight roughness that reminded him that this was real, that he was standing here holding Jack Harkness in his arms. Jack groaned and pulled him even closer, resting his forehead against the younger man. "Gwen said you have been spending a lot of time in your office."

"Gwen worries too much," he whispered, pressing hot kisses against Ianto's ear.

"Jack…" That tone of voice that let Jack know he wasn't going to let him get away with anything. Jack sighed against his throat, and pulled back a little.

"It's been hard," he admitted, not meeting the eyes of his lover. "It seemed so easy at first, I just had to keep myself distracted, think of all the things we would do when you were back. Even Weevil hunting isn't the same without you," he said, trying to smile. "But it doesn't matter, it's only a couple more years, Martha has been keeping up with every step of the research. She is amazing, she got to know everyone on the project, gets updates almost daily. As soon as they have something, it will be all over. That is what I hold onto, our future.

"It doesn't matter about the future," he said, his voice almost angry. "There is no future if you lose yourself, Jack. Maybe, maybe its time I take my chances…"

"No, Ianto, please…I can't lose you, not after we have gone through all this. You brought me back to life in a way I can't even begin to explain, you kept me sane for two thousand years under the dirt, I just can't…" he pulled him close, and he could feel the hot tears falling against his throat, sliding down the inside of his collar. He pulled the older man against him and held him tight, dragging him down to their bedroom, empty save for an air mattress made into an almost decadent bed by Jack.

He stopped and pulled away from Jack just a little for a gentle kiss before lowering him down to the bed. It was a long way down and a bit awkward with both their heights, but he managed more or less to get the older man settled and then pulled away, shedding his jacket and shirt. Ianto knew Jack, and right now he needed reassurance, and for his lover, that meant skin to skin, whether they were doing anything or not. Jack was without a doubt the most tactile person he had ever met.

Looking at him now, slumped on the makeshift bed, he could see it was going to take work. He dropped down carefully beside him and started to remove his boots and socks. "Ianto," Jack started. But Ianto smiled up at him and brushed a hand across his cheek.

"Shhh love, what you need is to refresh your memory," he said.

Ten years, ten days, the sight and the smell of Jack was the first thing as he opened his eyes. The older man pulled him close and kissed him. Immediately he knew that there was something wrong. The kiss was gentle or at least it attempted gentle, but he could feel the desperation, the heat. He could also feel that Jack was holding back, and that wasn't like him. When he pulled away, Ianto could see it in his eyes, darkness, desperation, and pain, quickly hidden as he looked into his young lovers' eyes.

Martha was back taking care of him and he greeted her with a smile and a quick hug. As with Jack, he noticed that something was not quite right. "Ok, Ianto, I need a few more tests this time, yeah?" She said, waving Jack out the door, telling him she could be done faster without him trying to molest the patient. Jack left with ill-disguised impatience

"Have they found it?" he asked, almost afraid. If the answer was here, what was wrong with Jack and Martha?

"Close, I just need to send your results. You should be perfect for it. I have called in every favor I had, Jack has pulled enough strings to make a cat's cradle, even the Doctor got involved putting some pressure on old friends at UNIT. It's almost over Ianto, I promise."

"Then I don't have to go back?" he said, feeling the worry start to lift from his heart.

"I didn't say that, Ianto. They won't be ready to treat you for at least six months, possibly nine, and I won't lie to you, the treatment is going to be hard, we need you as strong as possibly. But it is almost over," she said, holding his hand, and trying to look upbeat. He could tell something was bothering her though.

"What is it, Martha?" he asked, though Gwen was usually the one who kept him in the loop but he had a feeling that Martha had something that she needed to say. "What's wrong with Jack?"

"How did you know it was about Jack?" she said, trying to find the time to put her thoughts together. He just looked at her, eyebrow slightly raised, waiting. "Ok, ok, its Jack. The last couple of years have been hard on him, you know, but this last year…"

"Tell me, I need to know."

"After the last time, he seemed ok for a little while. Then, well, he started taking risks, crazy risks, even for him. He started drinking after hours, which has never been a problem, until the night he got drunk and killed himself in the morgue. Nisha was working late in the archives, she found him. No one had told her he couldn't die, and that was not the way to find out. She left, couldn't handle it. It did stop Jacks drinking though. He was afraid to lose control like that again."

"Martha, I…" he didn't know what to say, he had to find some way to make it right, even if he died, he couldn't keep putting Jack through this, he wasn't worth it.

"Let me finish. I think for a while he stopped sleeping, only collapsing exhausted down in the morgue by your drawer when he couldn't keep going, he was barely eating and well…" she paused, not knowing how to tell him the last part, afraid of what it would do to him. "Ianto, he has been seeing someone… I know it isn't serious, but…"

"I don't know why I have to explain this to everyone, especially you, Martha. I never expected him to stay celibate while I was indisposed," he said almost angrily.

"Ianto, it's John Hart."


	8. From Time to TimeConclusion

It could have been worse, he thought as he held tight to Jack

Ianto's heart fell into his shoes. He felt the waves of sickening jealousy well up like nausea, threatening to overwhelm him. There were only two men in Jack's past that could make him feel that way and the other one, the Doctor, he knew was not interested in him that way. He tried to think, to clear his head, but between anger and despair it was all he could do to keep himself still.

Jack appeared in the opening of the autopsy suite. "Are we ready…" he started, but one look brought him to a halt. Instantly he knew and his eyes flew to Martha.

"I had to tell him," she said, for a moment unsure whether she had done the right thing, both men looked as if their lives were over. The doctor decided that it would be a good time to leave them alone. Jack's desolate eyes followed her as she fled the room.

"I was going to tell you," he said, not completely sure what to say. He had known he would have to tell the younger man, but this was hardly the way he wanted it to happen.

"Why him, Jack, of all the people you could have chosen, why Captain John Bloody Hart?" There was anger in his voice, along with betrayal and pain, and Jack came down the stairs wanting nothing more than to take him in his arms, knowing that at the moment it would be unwelcome. "Tell me this, Jack, did you take him to our bed?" He regretted the words the minute they were out of his mouth but in his anger he just couldn't stop himself.

Jack looked at him as if his world was coming to an end, and perhaps in his mind it was. "Ianto, I would never…It isn't like that, I could never betray you like that."

Ianto didn't say anything, he didn't know what to say. He didn't know where they stood. He had been keeping himself alive to be with Jack and now he wasn't sure what he was going to do. A little voice inside him wondered if Jack even wanted him back, now that he was back with John but he couldn't open his mouth to let any of it out for fear of what he would say. On the other hand, if he didn't want him, didn't want them, why would he bother waking him up?

"Listen to me, please?" he asked stepping closer. Jack started to reach out but when he got no encouragement he drew his hand back self-consciously. "I was falling apart. I needed something, Ianto. I couldn't…You and I were together for ten years before this started and now it has been ten years, ten years of trying to live for one day a year. I thought I was handling it," Jack looked down at his hands, clasping them in front of him as if he didn't know where to put them. "Do you know what you mean to me? There was a time when I never thought I could or would stay with one person but you taught me better. I'm not the man I was when I met you."

"I know I told you not to be alone, but Jack," he said, not sure what else to say. He could feel Jack trying to reach him, see the despair in his eyes and knew that it reflected his own. Ianto was not ready to give in though, he wouldn't share and he wouldn't beg, even if his heart was breaking.

"I know, I know, it was stupid. I just needed someone…I tried, I really did, but somehow a quick shag against the wall outside some cheap pick up club just doesn't hold the appeal that it once did, and I really have nothing more to give. I needed someone familiar. John gave me something that I just couldn't…" Jack broke off, tears slowly starting down his face.

Ianto didn't know how to respond, he didn't know what he was feeling. Jack seemed so torn, so unsure. He wasn't used to this from his lover, his Jack was strong and usually so certain. "I don't… I need to think," he said, as he pulled himself off the table. Jack reached for him but he pulled away not wanting to touch him, to think about him and John. As he came out of the autopsy suite he saw his rival, sitting on the couch with his feet crossed casually at the ankle. That was enough, he fled straight for the door.

"Ianto…" He heard Jack cry out, sounding as if it was torn from his throat. He almost lost his resolve, but he steeled himself and made it out the door as he heard John's voice.

"Leave him, Jack, he needs time." It was probably one of the few times he ever had or would agree with John Hart.

Ianto found himself on the end of the quay staring out into the bay. He thought about their penthouse, the new life that he was dicing his time for. Was it worth it? He had always been afraid that he would lose Jack, that their dreams of the future wouldn't be enough to hold his attention.

The wind off the bay was cold, and Ianto pulled his jacket tighter against him, having left without even bothering to grab his coat. "Going to freeze yourself if you stay out here." The voice was familiar, close and hateful.

"Sent you after me, is that the best he can do? Or are you supposed to deliver me the bad news?"

"Actually I practically had to tie him to the chair to keep him down in the sewer. Told him you needed a bit of time." Ianto nodded and tried to ignore the other man. "Whatever you think, Eyecandy, it was always you. It always has been. Jack was in a bad way, black mood. He needed someone who could give him what he needed, someone he could trust, someone who knew what the score was."

"Oh, and what is the score?" Ianto asked sharply. He didn't want to think what it was that John was hinting even though he had a good idea.

"Eyecandy," he said, rolling his eyes at the younger man. "Ianto, what Jack and I had, it was over a long time ago, and it was certainly never what you have, we fought, we loved, we fought again…Good times actually...Any way, I meant what I said to you all those years ago, I love him, as much as I am capable of. That isn't much, not enough for him to throw away what you have built together. Just…don't leave him, not over this. Losing you would break him, you know, and I don't think he would ever come back from it." He looked at John Hart, for the first time really studying him. He hadn't changed all that much since the first time they met, but at the same time he had. For once, Ianto didn't actually feel like shooting him.

"Anyway, now that we have had our little bonding moment, time for me to say my good byes, always moving on that's me."

"And Jack?" he asked, almost afraid.

"We both knew it would end when you woke up. Jack would never cheat on you, and unless you have changed your mind about that threesome?" he asked, a slight grin on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Thought not, ah well, couldn't hurt to ask. Anyway, then it's time I was off."

"You don't…I don't speak for Jack, it isn't my decision," he said not sure what had got into him. He hated Captain John Hart, almost from the moment he had laid eyes on him. The thought of him with Jack burned like acid in his stomach but at the same time, he could see the pain, and Ianto knew that feeling well, the one that said no matter how much you love someone they wouldn't even see you. Besides, the thought of Jack being alone again, falling into that black place that Martha was talking about, that scared him. Ianto had meant it; he didn't want to lose Jack, in anyway.

"No, it is mine and Jack's, and we decided." John Hart turned his back to the other man and started to walk away. Instead, he turned around and walked back, closing in him. "One thing, Ianto Jones, take care of him. He needs you more than he is willing to let on, and that is quite a lot actually." Then much to Ianto's surprise, he leaned forward and kissed him. It wasn't the kind of kiss Ianto had seen between him and Jack, just a quick, gentle brush of lips. The younger man wondered if he thought he might shoot him. Before he could really react, John was walking away again.

"Captain Hart," he said as hesitantly, not completely sure why he was doing this. "If you happen…in your travels to come back here later, after I am actually gone…could you?"

"Think I could just manage that," he said with a smile. "After all, I still have some other business…" with that hanging in the air he disappeared round the corner and off the quay.

As Ianto made his way back into the depths of the hub, he noticed how empty it was. As he made his across the floor he saw Martha come out of the Autopsy suite. "Everyone has gone," she said, trying not to convey how upset she was. "Jack sent them all home and then went into his office." Ianto walked over to her and reached out a hand with a wane smile.

"It will be fine, Martha. You go on, we will call if something comes up, but I think Jack and I need some time."

"Ianto, I know you are angry but…"

"Martha, it's ok, I promise. Go along; see if you can spend some time with Tom. We will sort it all out." He hoped he was telling the truth. He wasn't really angry with Jack anymore. Though he still wasn't keen on his old friend, he understood at least a little. Ianto made his way to Jack's office, and knocked lightly, though he couldn't see him through the glass wall. Entering, he heard movement, though he could see no one. Confused, he made his way to Jack's bunker. His lover hadn't spent much time down there before he had left, though he wasn't sure anymore. Looking through the opening, he saw Jack digging through a cupboard.

He cleared his throat, and Jack turned suddenly, banging he head on the edge as he tried to turn suddenly. The look on his face was half way between heaven and hell. He could see them both, hope and fear, things that Jack tried so hard to hide, but he wasn't hiding anything now. "I…I thought maybe I ought to make up the bed in here for tonight, thought you might not want…"

"I want you, sleeping next to me." Jack's face light up like a child on Christmas morning. He dropped the linens and moved towards him slowly, holding his hand out to the other man as if afraid that he would suddenly disappear. Rather than join his lover, he pulled him up toward the office. As Jack climbed out, Ianto sat back on the old couch, thinking about all the times they had spent here, talking, kissing, not to mention a long list of other things not the least bit appropriate for an office. He blushed when he thought about the first time he and Jack…But Jack was here, in front of him, looking shy and frightened, a bit like the first time he had asked him on a date, so long ago.

"You know I never wanted to hurt you. I was so alone, so angry…I just…"

"I know. It's easy for me, everyday I wake up, and you are there, like no time has passed. Even though I feel the things I am missing out on, the children growing up, all of that, but you have to live it. I forgot how hard it must be living day to day, trying to get through."

"It is worth it, as long as I have you in the end," Jack said, carefully sitting himself down next to Ianto and reaching cautiously for his hand. "It's over, you know, John and I. There is no way I could continue."

"You didn't have to give him the push, you know," Ianto said, not sure what he was looking for, whether he wanted the reassurance, or just to see how he would react.

"Yes I did. It wasn't fair, to any of us." Jack brought their linked hands to his lips, brushing a kiss over the knuckles.

"He came to talk to me, you know," Ianto said.

"I…er…I"

"CCTV, yes, Jack, I figured as much."

"Just long enough to see where you went, you were upset and I was worried. Then I sent the team home, and Martha decided I needed to know what a bastard I am."

"I'll sort her out, later," he said. "But that is beside the point. John wanted to tell me that you were over as well."

"It wasn't fair, even to John but…"

"I understand," he said, pulling Jack into a kiss. He breathed in deep the scent of his lover, letting the feelings wash over him. "Jack, it's almost over, maybe I should just…"

"No, you heard what Martha said, you need to be as strong as possible. The treatment is going to be hard on your body, and we need everything to be perfect. Come on, Ianto, we are so close…"

"Do you think I will loose my hair?" Ianto asked.

"Martha hasn't mentioned anything like that, but it doesn't matter. You will still be cute to me, in or out of a suit, with or without hair…anyway I can have you."

"Well, the hub is empty and as it has been a while…"

"Let me help you with that jacket," Jack said, pulling the younger man into his arms.

Eleven day, ten years, seven months, Ianto woke to the words he had been waiting almost a decade to here. "Ianto, come on love, it's time."


	9. One Day at a TimePart 1

It could have been worse, he thought as he held tight to Jack

When Ianto opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Jack's blue eyes glowing down at him. "Jack, what?" he asked, a little confused.

"It's over. Time for you to wake up for good." Jack was smiling as he helped his lover sit up on the table. Martha and Chris were both standing by, and as he looked around he could see Gwen, and Tish leaning on the railing.

"It's…" he said confused, trying to take it all in. He remembered the last time, Jack, John, the pain in his lover's face. Now Jack looked as if all his Christmas' had come at once. He found himself leaning toward Jack and the older man leaned over and kissed him. It felt so good, the brush of his lips, the warm, familiar smell of Jack wrapped around him, so close, so warm after being cold for so long. Even better, the darkness that had been growing in the other man's eyes was gone to be replaced with something that Ianto thought they had both given up on, hope.

"Oi, Jack, stop molesting the patient. If you let him go we can give him the once over and you can get him out of here." Jack released him with a smile and a cheeky salute to the women who were bustling around him, but he only retreated as far as the rail, hustling the other two women out and then taking their place. "All right, Ianto, you know the drill. It is only a formality, really. Then you and Jack can go off and do….whatever it is you and Jack get up to." Martha looked sharply up as Jack cleared his throat. "No, Jack, I don't want you telling me either. There are some things I just don't need to hear about."

"What about me?" Chris asked. "I might need some…"

"No," Martha answered sharply but the smile told them all that she was teasing as she continued the usual checks of heart, lungs, and reflexes. "Now, there are no shots for you this time," she said, noting his smile of relief.

"That's pleasant," Ianto said.

"Enjoy it while you can. Listen to me Ianto, and you too Jack. You start treatment on Monday, that is one week from today."

"Here?" he asked.

"No, you will have to go to London, Royal Hope. Don't worry, they know what they are doing. I trained there with the Doctor that will be treating you."

"Why can't you…"

"This is not my area of expertise, though I have learned a lot more about Oncology than I ever thought I would. I will come up with you though, just to keep an eye on you, and make sure Jack isn't harassing you or the nurses, or the doctors, or the orderlies, or…"

"Hey, my harassing days are over," Jack said. "Completely settled." He didn't even react to the rolled eyes.

"Now, I want you to listen, and you too, Jack," she said, moving on while looking up at the Captain as he leaned on the railing trying to look casual. "I woke you up early to give you some time, but I want you to take it easy and get plenty of rest."

"I have been resting for the last ten years," Ianto complained, his voice slightly bitter.

"Consider it a vacation, spend time with Jack, get to know your god children again, visit friends…Whatever you want to do as long as you rest."

"I will make sure that he gets his rest, if I have to tie him to the bed," Jack said, an innocent smile on his face that no one believed.

"I didn't need to hear that," Chris called out from where she was leaning over a microscope in the corner.

"Take him out of here, Jack," Martha said, trying to look exasperated as she tried to hold in the laughter.

"Ianto, have I got a surprise for you…" he said as he slid under the rail and reached out for his lover's hand. Jack's eyes were dancing in a way he hadn't seen in a few days/years and Ianto didn't care what it was, even if it meant a new rooftop in the rain as long as Jack was there.


	10. One Day at a TimePart 2

As they entered the main hub, Ianto could see Patrick at his desk, the pile of parts, papers and wrappers not particularly changed since the last time, though it was supplemented with a small collection of coffee containers from various places he recognized from around the bay. Without Nisha, he was fairly sure that no one had braved his coffee machine. He looked up and smiled at Jack and Ianto. The rest of the hub was quiet, and Ianto wondered if Jack had sent the others home, or if they were just out on a call.

"Where are we going?" Ianto asked.

"Not much further. Oh, we have a new team member. Well not exactly…he's down from London for a bit, studying weevil behavior…"

"I didn't know Weevils exhibited enough behavior to study," he said.

"Yeah, well, Dr. Tarleton thinks that they do, and anything that helps keep them from rampaging down St. Mary's of a Saturday night…" He left off as he led the other man up the stairs to the gantry above the boardroom. From here you could practically see the entire hub but before Ianto could spare more than a glance, Jack had pulled him back against him and flipped up the cover of his wrist strap. "Now, enough about the good doctor, it's time for your surprise. Press here and here." Jack pointed to the requisite buttons, surprising him a little. The older man had always been particularly possessive and close mouthed about the secrets of his wrist strap. He never took it off, not even in bed or the shower and he never let anyone else touch it. It said more about Jack's feelings than any words ever could.

Ianto looked up at the other man and smiled shyly as he pressed the buttons. After a moment, he heard the familiar screech of Myfanwy circling down toward them. He smiled at Jack handed him a bar of dark chocolate. It was probably not good for her, but she enjoyed it so and neither of them was particularly good at resisting her.

Their pet pterodactyl was starting to get old, or at least slowing down a bit. Certainly she stayed closer to the hub than she had when they first brought her, or so Jack had been telling him. He had tried to take a guess at her age and lifespan but not one of the experts he had tracked down had an idea of how long they were supposed to live. There just wasn't a good way to track it down when all you had were fossil records. Jack had told him it didn't matter, after all lifespan in the wild was usually shortened anyway and Myfanwy had no predators, didn't have to worry about food, or shelter. In short, she had everything a pterodactyl could want in the modern world except more of her own kind and she always seemed to have made up for it with the team, especially him and Jack.

She landed on the Gantry near them, barely fitting herself in the space, and wobbled forward in that ungraceful way she had when she wasn't in the air. Ianto began to unwrap the chocolate bar, but Jack stopped him. He had been a little concerned that she would forget him. Jack had not been all that inclined to let him spend a lot of time visiting. "This is lovely," he said, as he reached out to scratch her crest as she leaned down to him. "But hardly the surprise you promise…" he faltered as the other figure settled down on the rail next to him. Ianto just gawped. "I thought…How…" he didn't know what to say.

On the rail was a miniature version of the beloved flying reptile standing before them, and like her, the little one was screeching and leaning forward for a scratch which Jack was only too happy to provide. It was only about a foot and a half tall as it stood there, stretching up toward Jack's hand. "Gwydion, that is a welsh name isn't it?" he said, as he offered a little bit of chocolate to the creature. "He fell through the rift about three months ago. I was looking for something to do with my spare time…"

"So you adopted another pterodactyl, and a baby at that? And what does Myfanwy think of him? Come to think of it, what if she is still fertile? Did you think about the possibility…"

"Hush, he isn't even the same subspecies. According to a Dr. Cutter I spoke to up in London, our little friend here is a pterydactylus, a smaller species, and he will be full sized in another six months to a year. As to how she gets on with him, well." Jack nodded to where she was feeding the piece of chocolate she had just been given to the younger creature. "I am not completely sure, but I think she is trying to mother him."

Ianto stood looking in amazement at the two creatures. Now that Jack mentioned it, she did look a bit broody. He broke off a bit of his own chocolate bar and held it out to the younger reptile. Gwydion hopped up and grabbed it before ducking his head for a scratch. "Jack, leaving aside from the fact that we now have two prehistoric reptiles that are flying around Cardiff now, what you have done is amazing. Though I am surprised that he is letting me get so close, considering how skittish she was."

"I have been training him to recognize your scent. I…I used one of your shirts," Jack said, looking almost embarrassed.

"He is beautiful," he said, leaning back into Jack, breathing in the familiar scent. They had both become very attached to Myfanwy, especially considering the way she brought them together. More than once when Ianto had caught him spoiling her, he had excused himself by saying he owed her and she wasn't exactly getting any younger. But the thought of an empty hub was something he couldn't imagine.

"Not as beautiful as you. Finish spoiling them and I can get on with reminding you how much I have missed you."


	11. One Day at a TimePart 3

It could have been worse, he thought as he held tight to Jack

As they returned to the main floor of the hub, Jack's arm found its way round Ianto's waist, holding tight as if it had been forever. Perhaps for him it seemed that way, Ianto thought, especially to someone as tactile as Jack. "So is that…"

"I had to have something to keep myself busy all those lonely night," Jack said with a wicked grin. "Not that I expect to have to worry about that soon." He stopped them right there and drew the younger man into a kiss, gently meeting his lips as he pulled their bodies close. "I don't plan to let you go any time soon."

"Oi, I'm out of here," Patrick called from the level below them. Jack and Ianto looked down at him, not stepping apart though. It wasn't as if it was the first time they had been seen kissing in the hub and while in general Ianto wasn't keen on public displays of affection, right now he didn't care, certainly not enough to leave the warmth of Jack's arms. It was odd, though. Normally Patrick would just slip out. It wasn't as if he wasn't aware what they had been through. Just then they saw movement off to the side, and realized that they were in fact not alone.

The two of them separated reluctantly as the man looked up at them. Ianto didn't know which surprised him the most, realizing that someone else was in the room, or the fact that he recognized him. The man was tall, thin and ascetic in a way that had always suggested a priest or monk to him. In fact, with the black suit and iron grey hair, all he was missing was the dog collar, or a tonsure and a monks robe. When Jack had mentioned the new 'member' of Torchwood, he hadn't made the connection with the man he had only briefly had contact with back at Torchwood tower. "Ah, Dr. Tarleton, I didn't realize that you were still here," Jack said, leaning against the rail.

"Yes," the man said, sounding rather distracted, or perhaps disapproving as he managed to look down his aquiline nose at the two men standing a floor above him. "Well, I gather you have been distracted." His voice fit the rest of him, cold, posh and full of upper class privilege and disdain.

Jack managed to ignore the implied snub or maybe didn't hear it. In fact Ianto wasn't sure it was a snub or just the man's usual way of treating anyone or anything that was not related to whatever project he was working on at the time. "Dr. Tarleton, let me introduce you to our Archivist, Ianto Jones. He should be able to help you with those records you are looking for as soon as…"

"We have met," Ianto said, breaking into Jack's ramble. The older man looked a little surprised, and he could tell that he would have to explain. "How have you been, Sir?" he asked. He had not known the man well, nor had he particularly liked him. There was something too cold, almost reptilian about him.

"Jones, yes, Torchwood Tower, I didn't make the connection. I had already gone to UNIT when everything…er…bad business," he trailed off as first Jack, then Ianto stepped away from the stairs, and onto the main floor.

"Yes, it was," he said, not wanting to discuss it anymore than the other man did. "What is it you are looking for?" Ianto wasn't sure why, but even with his limited contact, the man had always left him cold.

"I have been observing that creature, that weevil as you call it, down in the cell."

"Janet, her name is Janet," Ianto said.

"Er…quite…anyway, I was wondering how far back your records go, number of captures, attacks, that sort of thing." Dr. Tarleton looked uncomfortable, as if there was something distasteful about naming the resident weevil.

"We have data all the way back to the founding of this branch," he said, immediately back to professional mode. "Most of the statistics have already been input into the computer, though if you want the observation notes, there aren't any until the twenties. I am afraid the early directors were more interested in shooting them than observing them. I have or rather had been putting them into the data base but they are not in the best condition. I can allow you to see them," he said politely before Jack intervened.

"And you will, tomorrow," Jack said firmly, the voice of command that had served him well in two world wars and countless other battles in times and places best not mentioned in front of others. The man looked as if he was about to object but while he and Jack were of a height, he couldn't intimidate him as easily as he did others. Instead he nodded, put down the file he had been perusing and gathered his things to leave.

"I didn't know you knew him," Jack said, turning to pull Ianto back into his arms as soon as the alarm stopped.

"Knew would imply a significantly more sociable relationship. Dr. Tarleton was at Torchwood Tower when I was there. I was assigned to do some research for him. I wouldn't say I knew him, and I certainly didn't expect to find him here. Actually I haven't thought about him in years, and I don't mean the ones I spent asleep." He shivered a little involuntarily and Jack pulled him even closer.

"Yeah, a bit of a cold fish, isn't he? Anyway, he is only here for a little while. An old friend from UNIT called."

"Sir Alister?" he asked, knowing his lovers long association with the former head of UNIT in the UK.

"No, someone a good bit more recent, Brigadier Win Bambera, I don't think you have met her. She was out of the country, serving in Geneva for a good few years after an incident with the Doctor…long story. Anyway, she called up and said he wanted to do a study on weevil behavior and could I get him out of her hair for a while. I owe her."

"Ex-lover?" he asked, as he usually did, with Jack you could never tell.

"No, though not for lack of trying, but her husband swings a mean sword. Anyway, enough about everyone else, it is time to focus on the more important things."

"Like?" he asked, trying for his best professional look but it was difficult with Jack's arm around his waist, his hand caressing that spot just below his ribs.

"Like you and I."


	12. One Day at a TimePart 4

Ianto stood at the window looking out over the bay. The last three days had been divided fairly equally into periods of complete boredom, frustration and exhaustion punctuated and highlighted by periods of mind blowing sex and gentle lovemaking, even occasionally at the same time. The archives were almost exactly as bad as he expected, having been left almost exactly the way they were the day that Nisha had found Jack dead and seen him come back to life, followed by her own exit with two retcon and a lovely recommendation for the V and A. Someone, possibly Jack had made some small effort to keep the files coming in sorted from the files that were being brought in from other places and the alien tech had at least been lined up with its accompanying paperwork rather than attempting to figure out where it went but the results were still going to take him weeks if not months to sort.

Martha refused to sign off on his field work authorization so he was confined to the hub, not allowed out on so much as a weevil hunt. The team had learned even before he was gone to pick up after themselves, and he hadn't worked the tourist office except to give Tish a break in some time either. Before he would spend a couple of hours in the archives, morning and evening, the rest of his time split between office tasks, coffee and the odd call out. Now, he was on light duty and several of his lighter duties were taken. He did start to make the coffee again however, much to immense pleasure of the entire team. Even Thomas who had only heard stories was a convert, though Dr. Tarleton only drank tea, thank you ever so.

There was another source of his dissatisfaction. While he didn't want to be treated like the invalid everyone tried to make him, the good doctor seemed only too pleased to find as much work, preferably involving as much heavy moving of files and boxes as possible. When Jack had told him to take it easy, he had only looked at him. "It is his job, is it not? If he can't attend his duties perhaps he shouldn't be here?" Ianto had grabbed his lover's arm before he made a move. It did however lower the temperature between the two men from pleasant, at least on Jack's part, to unilaterally barely civil.

Between these work annoyances, the two of them had been spending whatever spare moments they had on the flat. Jack had still refused to move so much as a single piece of furniture before and now they were trying to make up for it all before he had to go up to London. Ianto was the first to admit that his furniture was crap, bits and pieces from charity shops that he had from before Lisa. Except for the welsh dresser than had belonged to his mam, there was nothing, he decided, that he would give house room to, certainly not in their new flat.

Calling the removal men to get rid of his old furniture was the easy part. Sorting what they wanted to use from what they wanted to buy new out of Jack's belongings and the things they had accumulated in their room at the hub turned out to be a much greater task. At well over 100 years on earth, Jack had time to gather quite a few possessions and he was something of a pack rat. Not that he kept everything, he explained to Ianto as they sorted through, but sometimes it was hard to decide what to save. Unlike his lover, he also had no inventory for his stored items, so it was rather like a treasure hunt, with intervals taken off to run out to the shops when they realized yet another thing they had forgotten.

"That is the last of this lot," Jack said, breaking him out of his reverie as he came through the door, arms laden with bags. He dropped the bags by the door to the lounge and went straight to Ianto, wrapping his arms around the other man. "Penny for 'em?" he asked.

"Not worth it, really, just watching the bay."

"And I believe that because…"

"Because I told you so?" he said, hoping the older man would drop it.

"Fine, I'll just get these things into the other room and then you and I can work out what to do for dinner."

"I'll help you," he said reaching for a basket of folded linens that they had picked up from the cleaners earlier. Jack had been confused by his insistence that they be washed before they went on the bed. After all they were brand new and had never been broken in.

"Here, I'll carry, you get the sheets on." Jack reached out and tried to take the basket from the other man.

"Jack this is a load of bollocks and you know it. I am not an invalid, and I won't be treated like one. Just let me get on with things normally." He was angry and not a little frustrated as he rounded on his lover. "You won't let me move any boxes, or lift anything. I feel bloody useless and I hate it!"

"You are not useless, bloody or otherwise, you have been ill, still are. I just want to make sure that you are as strong and healthy as possible. Ianto, I worry about you. If anything happened…" he paused. They had both been dancing around the issue and he knew that Jack was afraid desperately afraid that something would happen, trying to be the strong, dashing hero without letting on how concerned he really was. Ianto knew he should not be making it anymore difficult, but he hated not being able to just get on with his life.

"Sorry, but there is no reason I can't carry the laundry."

"No, I suppose not, but I promised Martha you would rest. She will do something severely unpleasant to me if anything happens to you. You know that right?"

"Yes, but Jack, if I don't start doing things again, if I keep feeling like I am useless, it doesn't matter. I can't just sit here and wait for things to happen, I have been doing that for ten years. I need to keep myself busy. There will be plenty of time for relaxing when I go up to London." He could see Jack considering how to react. The situation hadn't been easy on him, on either of them, but all he wanted was to get things back to normal straight away and he wanted the other man to understand that.

"I do understand, really. Just…take it easy tonight. Tomorrow, end of the world permitting, we are going to have help getting the rest of our things from the hub, and the removal men are coming Friday to bring the rest of the furniture we have bought and then the party. Just rest today, tonight, let me take care of you, and tomorrow I will try not to say anything. All right?"

"I suppose," he said slowly, wondering why Jack had given in so easily and what he was going to have to forfeit. Not that he had particularly minded any of Jack's forfeits in the past but still.

"Good, now let's get this bed made and I'll help you to relax," Jack said with a wink and a smile.

"Yes, because I get so much rest when it is just you and I alone."

"You will rest, if I have to tie you to the bed…or maybe I'll just start there."


	13. One Day at a TimeConclusion

**A/N Just a little bit of a note. Thanks to all the people who have reviewed, there is probably one more part to the story, possibly two but if you thought that was all (I certainly did) then you would be wrong. Apparently theer is another story to tell with Jack and Ianto, and all the new members of the team. This bit will have a little crossover with DW. Please enjoy, read, review, all the usual disclaimers and oh, yeah, still no beta, but if someone wants to apply...On with the story.**

Ianto looked around the room at the noisy throng. It was hard to believe that from five people over twenty years ago, this family had grown to require an entire restaurant. They had considered something a little more subdued, briefly, but Jack had been planning the little get togethers ever since he had first started his little dance through time. Everyone would want to be there, and there would be no way to shorten the list. Instead they decided on something a little quieter when he was back from London, possibly the flat warming that Jack had vetoed until after.

Looking at them all he couldn't help but smile. Rhys was getting a little grey on top and Gwen had a few more laugh lines than before. The twins were starting to think about the uni in a few years and Tosh, surprisingly a tech genius like her namesake but with a love for forensics that no one was quite sure where she got had managed a boyfriend. Or so he rather hoped for the sake of the poor lad who had been introduced to him earlier. At least he didn't have to worry about them having to retcon him. Ianto was fairly sure that no matter what he overheard he would not notice, only having eyes for the beautiful young woman his god daughter had become. Owen hadn't brought a date with him apparently having had trouble deciding which one of his current 'friends' to bring with him. Rhys had dragged him aside earlier to ask for his advice on being the father of 'someone like him'. "Not that there's anything wrong with it, mind. But I never know what to say to him about his girlfriends, and even less about his boyfriends. And Jack, well…you know what he is like, mate. Besides, I think he goes to Jack for advice, so maybe it's best, like…" Ianto had merely smiled and done his best to reassure his old friend, what else could he do.

It was strange, to see the years in them. It seems so little time ago, when it had just been the five of them, when Owen and Tosh had been alive, and he and Jack had just been feeling their way towards a relationship. Rhys and Gwen had just been on the verge of getting married, and then the world had fallen apart. When they found themselves trying to put their lives and their team back together, they had clung together. Then had come Martha, and Mickey fresh from them saving the world yet again to join them.

He could see Mickey now, sitting on the other side of the room with a beer in one hand, talking to Patrick, probably about some kind of computer system. His son John, just gone 16 and anxious to get his license for driving a scooter, was in the corner closeted with his namesake, the Doctor on some matter of tech that he probably shouldn't have or know about. Trisha, Mickey's wife was deep in conversation with Robert, Tish's husband on the joys or something of being a Torchwood widow, while little Frannie ran around after her cousin Donna and L.C. toddled, never too far from the adults. Thomas was deep in conversation with Andy Davidson, no longer the same P.C. he had been so long ago, having moved up the ranks to head up the joint response team, helping train officers in how to deal with the more mundane tasks that came from living with the rift, like how to capture weevils, and when to back up and call Torchwood or UNIT. Andy had grown up in the years after Grey tried to destroy Cardiff. He had even gotten over Gwen eventually, and married a nice young lady, a nurse at CRI who couldn't get away this evening.

Everyone had come, save John Hart and he was just as glad not to see him again. Even Dr. Tarleton had come, there being no good way not to invite the man. More and more Ianto was getting the feeling that something was not right with that man. There was something about his research, the files he was requesting but was certain it wasn't right. Still, he didn't have the energy to care, not when he had so much to prepare.

"Enjoying it?" the Doctor said, startling Ianto out of his thoughts. He had been a bit surprised when the blue box had appeared next to the invisible lift earlier this morning. At first he thought that there was yet another threat to the world and was getting out his phone to start canceling the party when Jack told him that the man was just there for the celebration. Of course, he was Jack's friend, there was no reason he shouldn't be there but except for John Hart, the Doctor was the only person who Ianto was feared loosing Jack to.

"Yes, it's lovely."

"Jack has always known how to throw a party, I'll give him that." The alien turned to look at the room. "It's a lovely family you all have built here."

"Yes, it is. Did you need anything?" he said politely ever the host.

"Nope, actually I just wanted to see how you were doing. Time traveling is difficult, even if you did it the long way."

"Its fine, it will all be fine." Ianto wanted to get away, to end this awkward conversation but he didn't know how to get out of it. Jack was in the corner, playing some game with the smaller children that involved them all trying to climb him at once, and everyone else seemed engaged.

"I have known Jack a long time, have seen him love a lot of people."

"I know about his past, thank you," Ianto said a bit acerbically.

"Sorry, that didn't come out…sorry. Its this incarnation, a bit rude, you know?" he said running his hands through his hair in a distracted way. "What I mean to say is, I have never seen him as happy as he is with you. He has never loved anyone as much as he loves you, Ianto Jones."

"I…he loves you," he said, the words falling out of his mouth as if trying to escape.

"Oh, not that way," he said. Ianto turned to him in surprise. "He did, once, but I was a different man then, completely different, actually."

"Big ears and a leather jacket?" he asked, with a hint of a smile.

"Exactly, but even then…well, it doesn't matter now," he said. "What I wanted to say was this…If for some reason this treatment doesn't work, if it fails, call me. I will take care of it, take you some place…"

"You can't. Jack wanted to before but I wouldn't, what about the timelines and all that?"

"Leave that to me, after all I am a professional. Time lord, remember?"

"But," Ianto said, looking at the man he had always felt intimidated by. "Why would you do that for me?"

"This world needs Jack to protect it, you and I both know that. I am not here all the time, never will be. But Jack, he needs you, to save him, to remind him what it is he keeps fighting for. You are so much more important than you could ever imagine, Ianto Jones."

"But Jack is going to live forever, one day I am going to be gone."

"Yep, everything dies, Ianto, or rather everyone dies. Love, that is something else, and shouldn't be given up lightly. When you are gone, he will have the memories, as many as you can make."

"When I am gone," Ianto said as the other man started to walk away. "Will you?"

"I will always been around, Ianto. Can't seem to avoid this planet, after all, where else am I going to pick up milk?" He walked away, Ianto watching him with surprise and something like affection. For the first time there was no fear and no jealousy, only the knowledge that should something happen, someone else would be looking out for Jack. With that thought came peace, and Jack, walking towards him with L.C. in his arms, and Donna clinging to his pant leg, riding on his boot.


	14. EpilogueA Time to Live

Ianto Jones leaned on the terrace rail of the penthouse flat he had not lived in long enough to call home and watched the sun set. It had been forty-eight hours since he and Jack had returned from the hospital, pronounced tentatively cured after six weeks of excruciating treatment. It would be another four months before they could speculate but they were optimistic. At least that is what they had said as they released him. After the long drive home, they had both fallen into bed and slept for most of the last two days.

Jack was still asleep when he got up, and Ianto was reluctant to wake him. He didn't think he had ever known his lover to sleep this long or seen him this tired. On the whole, the older man slept very little, staying in bed only to keep him company or getting up and returning before morning. But that was under normal circumstances and the last six weeks had been anything but normal even by his fairly jaded standard.

Ianto had been delivered to Royal Hope by Jack, and met there by Dr. Martha Jones. He expected they would check him in, get him settled. He thought that Jack would probably stay at least the night, maybe the next day until he started treatment. Instead he was shown to a private room, on a quiet ward at the top of the hospital. The nurse was a sweet faced young thing with an eastern European accent and a mass of blond hair pinned up under her cap. It was a sign of how concerned Jack was that he didn't even notice her as he helped him get settled.

They were on a special ward devoted to people receiving the new treatment. The number of closed doors and the sound of retching coming from next door did little to calm him, but Jack just squeezed his arm reassuringly as the nurse led him down the hall for a few x-rays and more of the ubiquitous blood work. At least the week since he had been woken had given enough time to flush anything out of his system that shouldn't be seen on a standard blood panel. It wouldn't do to have questions asked.

When he returned, Jack had settled down in the side chair with his laptop and data pad on the table and his com firmly planted in his ear. There was a stack of files beside the chair and Jack was signing something with an old fashioned fountain pen. Somehow, the older man was still completely addicted to paper and pen, even though he had once told Ianto they were beyond obsolete where he came from.

"Did you bring enough work?" he asked with a smile on his face, just glad that Jack was staying with him for his first night.

"Not sure, but the rest is in the car. I didn't want to bring too much up at a time." Ianto was gobsmacked. "You didn't think I was going to leave you to face this alone did you?" he said at the look before setting aside everything and wrapping him in a tight embrace. "They will call me if the world is ending. Besides, Doc fixed my teleport, just this once. Now, lay down and rest. I will be here."

So he had stayed. Ianto wasn't sure he slept at all, dividing his time between running Torchwood by remote and taking care of him. The first couple of days were all right. By the third day he was completely miserable, by the end of the first week he was begging Jack to just take him and put him back in the box. At least he showed no signs of losing his hair, though he lost everything that he tried to put into his body. No matter how miserable, now embarrassingly ill he was though, Jack was there, pressing cold cloths to the back of his neck, helping him into and out of bed.

By the second week, he knew he was in hell and prayed for death, if only to end his misery. Solid food was a thing of the past and even the vile liquid shakes that Jack pressed on him only stayed in his stomach on rare occasions. He had shakes and sweats. As Jack helped clean him up after yet another bout of illness, he begged the older man to leave him but Jack just smiled and grabbed another cool flannel, whispering his love against his skin along with a series of deliciously wicked suggestions about exactly what he intended to do with him as soon as he was well enough to stand for it, or even stand, while Ianto wished he felt well enough to appreciate it.

The third week was nothing but pain and blurry impressions. In the few lucid moments all he remembered was Jack, sitting beside him, holding his hand while alternating between his comm, and whispered words of encouragement to him, telling him how well he was doing. Ianto wanted to say something, to tell him something, anything, but he couldn't seem to get the words out. Thoughts wouldn't stay in his head, merging with feelings and things that he couldn't express, no matter how hard he tried. Sometimes he saw others, the nurses, doctors, and other hospital personel. He was fairly sure that Martha came to visit him, and at least once he thought he saw Mickey but it could have been a dream. Certainly Tosh was a dream, as was Owen, leaning over to check one of the multitude of IV lines, telling that 'its coming along, tea-boy, you will be back to shagging the captain in no time'. But it was all dreams, or maybe he thought so, at least he wasn't feeling nauseous any more.

Sometime toward the end of the fourth week he returned to something like consciousness, or so he thought. It was all a bit vague. The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was the beeping of machines, and the soft click of Jack's fingers on the keyboard. When he opened his eyes, though, Jack was next to him, the computer put aside on the table which was littered with polystyrene coffee cups and odd bits of paper. His throat felt like he had been gargling with sandpaper but it didn't matter, not when he saw the way Jack looked at him. It wasn't until later that he found he had stopped breathing on his own for a bit.

The last two weeks, Ianto started to consider that he might want to live. He had never expected Jack to stay with him the entire time. In fact, he had expected him to go back to work the minute treatment had started. Instead, he found that his lover had been controlling everything from the hospital, only leaving once and returning immediately. Martha came and sat with him, along with Mickey and Trish. Even Francine and Clive had come, once he came around, though none of the children were allowed. But even as he got better he could see the shadows under Jack's eyes and he wasn't sure that his lover had slept at all.

The treatment was dialed down, and Ianto slowly began to feel like a human being again. Slowly he was able to keep food down, Jack with him every step, every bite of the way. The first wobbly steps down the hall were on his lover's arm, reminding him that each step was one more out of the hospital and that much closer to Cardiff and home. Gwen and Chris drove up to see him and the children made homemade get well cards that were taped to every available surface.

The ride back from London had all the potential for harrowing, but Patrick and Chris had taken the train up to drive them back. It had looked like Jack would rebel, he preferred to be the one driving, but Ianto had talked him out of it. By that point he was afraid of Jack's competence behind the wheel. Ianto had slept most of the way back to Cardiff, wrapped in his arms while the other man whispered nonsense into his hair.

Now they were home. The sun was going down, he was home and his lover was sleeping like he hadn't since Grey. The wind came off the bay and he pulled the dressing robe Jack had bought him tighter around him. Looking out, he thought that no place in this world or any other could be more beautiful. "You are supposed to be resting." The voice was soft and closer than he expected. For such a large man, Jack could be impossibly quiet when he wanted.

"I have been resting for weeks. Besides, I wanted to see the sun set."

"Something is definitely beautiful out here," Jack said, his low voice whispered against his throat as he nibbled his way down to Ianto's collar, pulling it aside while pressing him closer against the rail. It had been so long, since he and Jack had touched. In the hospital, all he could think about was getting well so he could go back to his life, to Jack, and the hub, and the mad world that was Torchwood. Now it was all over and suddenly he felt uncertain. He had a future now, and he didn't know how to take the next step. Ianto took a deep breath, full of the sea and that unique scent that was Jack. Turning his head, he captured his lover's mouth, even as he felt hands reaching for the tie of his robe. "Now, about that welcome home," Jack whispered.

Jack released the tie and his hands roamed underneath, bringing a soft moan, quickly swallowed up in the passionate kiss that followed. The night was velvet dark, the lights below shined off the bay and the channel out to the sea. Before him he could see everything, his whole world laid out before him. Past and future, it was all laid out before him. For the first time, Ianto Jones thought there might actually be a future. Looking up at the stars, his last coherent thought as fabric slide back from his shoulders, no matter what the rift, and anything else sent through, at least there was a future for them, if only for a little while.


End file.
